App Fever

Last week, the timer and the GPS were vying for the position of favorite app on my iPhone.

I was a latecomer to the iParty, and actually succumbed to the iPad before the iPhone. And while I’ve enjoyed both from the beginning, the first time I realized how much I appreciated my iPhone was last spring, when I managed to get turned around and lose my bearings only a few miles from home. I refuse to say I was lost, because I’m sure I could’ve eventually found my way back to a place that would take me out of the maze, but I had neither the time nor the patience to prove it.

Fortunately, there was no need. With no idea where “current location” was, I plugged my destination address into my phone and it patiently – and silently – told me how to reach my destination. It even gave me choices.

I immediately called my husband and told him he was right. The iPhone that he’d been suggesting to me for years was a good idea.

Lately, I’ve been using the timer function on my iPhone to help curb my procrastination habit. I’ll sit down at the computer to work, but invariably decide to check something (usually Facebook) for “just a few minutes.” A few minutes turns into half an hour, and by that time, the motivation to work has faded.

So now, when I am tempted to play for a few minutes, I give myself permission to do so – right after I decide how many minutes are in “a few” and set the timer on my phone. When the timer goes off, play time is over. Invariably, this strategy works, if only because I don’t even delude myself into setting the timer when the urge to work is weak and feeble.

I’ve decided that if my iPhone can help me break my procrastination habit, it’s well worth the price of the data plan.

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1 Comment

I’ve started to use the timer in a similar way. When I have a work deadline, it’s 30 work/20 house/10 play during the school day. It works well. I get more done when I’m playing “beat the clock” and know I have a reward waiting at the end of it–some “playtime.”

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